SSD VI: Remus

157. Not A Quirk, Just Crazy

Shouta was in the kitchen. He wasn't cooking— nobody really trusted him to properly cook, the man could and had burned pasta— but he was cutting up some vegetables, preparing for when Hizashi would eventually be cooking.

Silver had come towards the kitchen three times now, aborting every time before she could pass the threshold. She tried to pretend she was just heading towards her room for something first, then that she needed the toilet, the third time she barely even tried to pass it off, simply returning to her spot on the sofa beside Hitoshi.

It was on the fourth time that she finally came in. She didn't say anything, just stood there a while, only barely inside the door, leaning against the counter.

It was strange. Usually, when Silver needed to talk, she'd go out to the fire escape and wait for him or Hizashi to come to her. He wasn't sure what could be up that would bring Silver to him, but he didn't want to put her off. It had to be important, whatever this was.

It was another few minutes before she pulled out the second chopping board and grabbed a knife to help him. "Thanks."

It was the only word spoken between them as they went about dicing. Neither of them were impressive cooks (though at least Silver had never once managed to burn pasta) but they were both good with knives.

Silver paused, knife against the board, a bit of carrot falling to one side now that it was no longer attached to the rest of it. Aizawa kept going for another few seconds.

He glanced over at her. "Is something wrong?"

She chewed at her cheeks, but stopped when he gently poked her face, reminding her it was a habit they were trying to help her quit. She started chopping again. So did he.

The pile of what was left to chop was dwindling fast, he wasn't sure what would happen if they finished. Would she tell him what was up then? Or would this moment pass without another word between them? Something was wrong, and he couldn't force it out of her, but it needed saying.

He didn't know what to do.

Hizashi would've known what to do. He would've been able to nudge it out of her, whatever was wrong. He would've been gentle. If Hizashi were here in his place, he would be helping her untangle whatever problem had brought her here rather than angsting while cutting up a carrot.

"You're thinking so loudly I can practically hear you."

And now, here she was, worrying about him and his angsting when he was meant to be the one worrying about her.

"I didn't mean to freak you out this much," she told him quietly, setting her knife down.

"You didn't-"

"I'm hallucinating again."

Oh.

Shouta glanced around the room, looking for something she'd just told him only she could see. "Now?" he asked, putting the knife down and checking to see if her eyes were tracking a figure that wasn't there.

She shook her head. "He comes and goes. It's auditory at the moment, I haven't seen anything yet."

"So it's just a voice," he concluded.

"For now." She sounded so sure that it wouldn't last. That it would get worse, that auditory would become visual, and it would all get harder.

He rested one hand on her shoulder, careful that his grip wasn't tight while still being firm enough to really feel there. He pulled her in, letting her rest her head on his chest. "Thank you for telling me."

"I should've told you sooner." Her arms wrapped around him, squeezing like he'd slip away if she didn't hold on tightly enough.

"You told me now," he said. "That's enough."